Third Time Is a Charm

by Ed Nelson

  Silly me.

  Inside I was given my suit and handed an envelope. The envelope was to be given to Lady Jackson at once. I transferred the envelope to an inside pocket of my sports coat to which I had affixed my greyhound pin.

  As I exited the store I looked around carefully but didn’t see anyone paying attention to me. I relaxed once I was back in the T-Bird and was driving away. Several blocks down as I was turning to join the freeway a set of red lights came on behind me.

  Wondering what I had done I pulled over. I watched in my rearview mirror as a Los Angeles policeman got out of his cruiser to approach me. What made me wonder was a plainclothes man getting out of the other side of the cruiser. All of a sudden this didn’t seem like a traffic stop.

  In the few seconds as the cop walked up to the car I withdrew the envelope from my coat pocket and placed it under the floor matt.

  Holding his hand out the cop said, “Driver’s License and Vehicle Registration please.”

  While I dug out my wallet and license, the plain clothes person picked up the suit from backseat where I had placed it. He ripped off the paper wrapper and went through the pockets of the suit and pants. When he found nothing he dropped them in a bundle in the back seat of the car.

  “It must be on him.”

  From saying please it now was, “Out of the car.”

  Not knowing what else to do I got out. I was taken back to the cruiser where I had to assume the position seen on police shows. A quick search showed that I had nothing on me.

  While the ‘policeman’ was searching me the plainclothes guy had looked through my car. It didn’t take him long to find the envelope under the matt.

  All of a sudden cars pulled up all around us. Some were black unmarked but most were Los Angeles police with lights flashing.

  Men in suits came running up.

  “FBI hands in the air,” they yelled. That was a little weird as I already had my hands up. The men in suits grabbed the plainclothes guy and the cop who stopped me. They were taken to the ground and handcuffed before I could comprehend what was happening.

  “You okay Mr. Jackson?”

  ‘Uh, yeah, what’s going on?”

  “This is confidential government business and you don’t have the clearance to be told.”

  “They took an envelope from my car that belongs to me.”

  “A US citizen could be in a lot of trouble if they were in possession of a communication from the Chinese government. I think its best if we keep that letter.”

  I looked down in thought, looking down I saw that little greyhound pin on my lapel.

  “What about a Messenger for the Queen of England, would they have diplomatic immunity?”

  “I would think very carefully before going that route. If you claim diplomatic immunity, then you’re declaring yourself a British citizen. You would keep the letter but lose your US citizenship.”

  He no sooner said that and he clenched his jaw and started to grind his teeth. Something was really upsetting him.

  I didn’t say anything I just held out my hand. The man stared me in the eye for what seemed like forever. He changed from looking like he was grinding his teeth to having swallowed a lemon. He handed me the envelope.

  I got into the T-Bird and drove away.

  What have I done?

  I drove onto the freeway and went several miles checking to see if anyone was following. Of course they weren’t, they knew where I lived. I pulled off at a ramp and stopped on the shoulder. I broke out into a sweat and started shaking.

  After a while I settled down enough to drive home.

  Mum and Dad were waiting for me. Someone had called them.

  “Are you okay Rick?”

  “I just lost my US citizenship.”

  “No you haven’t.”

  “But, I went on to explain what had happened.”

  “Here is what really happened. The FBI called and explained what was going on. You have caused a real can of worms to be opened.”

  “The Russians were trying to intercept that letter. The FBI was watching both them and the Chinese. When you were stopped by the Russians the FBI elected to arrest them, rather than take a chance on that letter getting away.”

  “The US Government wanted that letter to get to the British without being responsible. The agent who gave you the letter got himself into a pickle. He had the letter and no way to give it back to you legally until you declared yourself a Queens Messenger. Unfortunately his orders were not to touch any messages, to let them move on. He had the letter, his natural inclination was to keep it but he would have ruined his career in doing so.”

  “He was obligated to give it to you by his orders. From a legal stand point possession would have been in his favor as he had taken custody from a Russian spy. Anyway he spoke without thinking when he told you that you would lose your citizenship.”

  “He was absolutely correct in his statement but he also realized that it would go to court and that was the last thing the government wants. It would deepen the rupture between the Chinese and Americans. He just got caught up in the moment.”

  “Oh.”

  What else could I say? Now I know why he looked so frustrated. I handed the envelope to Mum.

  Unlike other envelopes I had delivered this one was addressed on the outside to Mum. She opened it immediately. She read it and stated.

  “The Chinese are bloody bastards.”

  Mum seldom swears. She handed me the letter. It was an apology to me from the Chinese. The whole thing was a setup by them to get the Russians off their backs.

  All of a sudden the Jackson, Richard Jackson image I had seemed naive.

  Dinner was quiet. The kids knew something had gone on but no one was talking about it. I was still shook up. I had not realized how serious things could get. I didn’t want to lose my citizenship. It also brought home the fact this was the big leagues and people could die. I didn’t want it to be me.

  After dinner Mum made a long distance call. She was on the phone a long time. When she was done she asked Dad and me to come to the library.

  “Rick you are done with the Chinese laundry.”

  I was scared for my life earlier but this hit my pride.

  “What do you mean? I’m not too scared to do it.”

  “Rick, in our world you have been burned, you have been exposed as a messenger in this mess so everyone will now follow you. New channels of communication will be opened up.”

  “Oh, just as long as everyone knows that I’m not too scared to do it.”

  “What you are is sixteen. You should feel lucky you got out this easily.”

  Stupid, stupid, stupid!

  “You’re right, I am lucky to get out of this. Frankly I’m very scared but would carry on.”

  “Anyone in their right mind would be scared of being caught between the American, British, Chinese, and the Russians.”

  Said that way, I didn’t feel too bad. All of a sudden I was exhausted. I went to my room and read. I went to sleep early. To this day I can’t tell you what I read.

  Chapter 25

  As I woke up on Friday I reflected on what had happened yesterday. I had carried out my duty as a Queens Messenger. I had been exposed as a messenger so no longer could be used on secret deliveries. I also realized that I had been living in a fantasy world all along thinking I was James Bond.

  I was no spy, I was a kid that could travel unnoticed until I was noticed. Then it was game over. Mum was right; getting caught up in those events could lead to a short life. It might explain why she always seemed to have a weapon at hand.

  Knowing I wouldn’t be asked to do anything like that again I cheerfully got up and performed a full workout and even rode George around the park. No tigers or kittens.

  I wondered what Schrodinger was doing. As I was wiping George down, Ben stopped by so I asked him.

  “Oh I haven’t seen her since Mary took her into the house.”

  Uh oh sounds like trouble i
n the making. After cleaning up I went down to breakfast, there was Mary with a kitten on her lap with Mum and Dad’s apparent approval.

  “I see you have adopted Schrodinger.”

  “Her name is not Schrodinger silly. No cat wants to be called that. Her name is Mittens for her two white feet.”

  “It’s okay with me. She is now your cat. You should have Ben get her shots and stuff.”

  I’m not going to explain spaying to my baby sister.

  Mary beamed at me.

  “Thank you Rick, you are the best big brother.”

  She told me this as she glared at her other two brothers at the table. I didn’t ask.

  “What are your plans for the day Rick?”

  “I thought I would call Hank Smith and see if I could get some flying time in. Then spend some time reading my new text books.”

  The first reading of new books was fun. It was the outlining, taking notes, and memorizing that got to be a pain. It got to be fun again after reading the books in the bibliography and comparing what they said versus the textbooks. There were so many different ways to interpret and report events.

  I now see why they say the winner writes the history. It also explained why being the secretary of a committee was a powerful position.

  When I called Hank he let me know that he would have four hours open this afternoon so I booked them. I read and studied until lunch. After lunch I drove down to LAX and spent the rest of the afternoon flying.

  As we fueled the aircraft, which I had to pay for I realized why it took so long for many to get their licenses.

  Flying was expensive.

  It was a lovely day to be in the air. The only thing that marred it was this instructor who thought it was his duty to make my life miserable by shutting off the engines and forcing stalls and even a spin. It was good to get the practice in, I was just feeling let down after yesterday.

  A few touch and goes at small airfields around the area and we called it a day. He countersigned my log book and we declared it a winner.

  Returning home it was back to the books. Well after stopping for a milkshake on the way. As I rode home I thought about the bachelor auction at the country club next week. I was dreading it but there was nothing I could do. I just hoped it was a nice young lady instead of a gold digger. Cute would be good, nice would be better. Cute and nice was almost too much to hope for.

  At breakfast I shared my concerns about the auction. Mum ignored me and changed the subject.

  “Rick, there have been some interesting feedback on your little adventure at the laundry. The American CIA isn’t happy with you, but that is nothing new. MI6 thinks you are wonderful.”

  “Now what have I done?”

  “The Americans have been considering the Chinese and Russians as joined at the hip. The fact that the Russians were trying to intercept a message in such a blatant manner says otherwise. This is counter to what the CIA has been telling the President.”

  “The Brits are happy because it adds to their theory that all is not well in Redland. The FBI is happy that the CIA has been shown up. The Chinese are probably happy because it gets the Russians out of the picture for a while, but with the Chinese there is really no way of knowing. The Russians are really unhappy because this is going to really cost them.”

  “In what way will it cost the Russians?”

  “Several, it deepens any divide with China. The biggest immediate cost is the replacement of almost all their LA Consulate staff.”

  “Why do they have to replace them?”

  “Because they lost their best people to you boys when you caught them spying on the CIA. Now they have lost their second string. They need to bring in new people. If they only brought in a few new spies they would be easy to spot. So they will replace the entire staff to keep us guessing.”

  “So I have the Russian KGB and American CIA upset with me. How could that go wrong?”

  “The Russians are now a concern. Before you were only considered family and left alone. They learned that lesson the hard way. Now you will be considered a player. I don’t think they will come after you but they will pay attention to you. MI6 will not use you anymore as they know you will be followed. The Russians have to follow you in case you are still active.”

  “Am I in danger?”

  “Not unless you get involved with an active operation, which I will not allow. I talked to Elizabeth early today and she told me she would take care of it, as the boys said, heads will roll.”

  “What about the CIA?”

  “Oh they will follow you for certain. That makes them your insurance policy with the Russians.”

  “Should I do anything different?”

  “No, they will do it for a while then both groups will get bored and need the resources elsewhere.”

  “Okay, I’m going to play golf today.”

  “Good idea. All those spies need some exercise.”

  Now that was a thought, a parade of spies following me on the golf course. I would have my own gallery.

  At the pro shop they told me the gopher was destroying the course. There was talk of getting a flame thrower.

  Steve Whitney was off today, so I was put in with a threesome. They were a couple of Doctors and a Dentist. They talked shop most of the round and ignored me, which was fine with me.

  At the half they compared scores which were all around ten over par. I was asked and just said I was doing okay. The Dentist started paying attention to me. After the eighteenth hole, he approached me apart from the others.

  “If you played the entire round like you did the back nine, you are under par for the day.”

  I wasn’t about to lie but wasn’t going to brag. When asked directly I told him I was four under for the day. He gave a low whistle.

  “Now I know who you are. Could I have your autograph for my daughter? She won’t believe me otherwise.”

  I had some publicity pictures in my golf bag so signed one made out to his daughter Alice. I wrote that her dad was a great golfer and I enjoyed the day.

  “This will get me lots of credit at home. Eleven year old girls are hard to impress. Not like when they were six.”

  We parted company, the Dentist talking rapidly to the two Doctors.

  I headed home and hit the books.

  Chapter 26

  Sunday morning after breakfast I took the kids down to the beach. We drove by the house I was buying but we couldn’t go in. All of them loved the idea of having a house right on the water.

  As Mary put it, “It will be nice to have a real potty at the beach.”

  That started the boys off about peeing in the ocean. I threatened to turn around if they didn’t straighten up.

  When did I start sounding like Dad?

  We had a good swim, ate lunch at a hot dog stand then stopped for ice cream on the way home. I went back to the books. After dinner we played Clue as a family. Colonel Mustard did it in the library with the candlestick.

  All in all it was a nice day.

  I hope all the spies enjoyed the outing.

  After last week I knew this week had to be a whole lot calmer. At breakfast we decided if the phone rang this morning we would ignore it. Well of course the phone rang. After five rings Dad couldn’t stand it and grabbed the phone.

  After answering he held it out to me.

  “There is a Tom James from Warner Brothers for you Rick.”

  You could feel the tension leave the room.

  “This is Rick.”

  He asked if I were available to talk about the movie this morning and reminded me to bring those books.

  I thought of something that might get my books returned later and typed out a loan agreement. I then gathered them up and headed out to the studio. I got caught at a long light across from a middle school.

  The young crossing guards wearing badges and waving flags came out to control the flow of kids streaming across the road.

  There were a horde of children on the playground before c
lasses started.

  A group of boys were pushing the merry-go-round at a tremendous rate. They all tried to jump on at the same time. They all made it except one kid lost his grip and the centrifugal force sent him flying.

  I bet he got skinned up on the gravel. That happened to me a couple of times.

  One boy was showing off by walking on top of the monkey bars. If he slipped and straddled the bar it would hurt!

  They were having a good time on the swings. They were swinging them as high as they could go and jumping off. One boy went so high you could see the chain jerk.

  That always scared me. I thought I was about to swing around the top bar.

  The girls were a lot more sensible. They played hopscotch on a chalked grid on the sidewalk. Other girls double dutching it with two long jump ropes.

  There was a gang of boys running around making shooting motions with their hands. Others were using hand bow and arrows. Cowboys and Indians I guess. None were good shots as no one fell down.

  Two teachers idly watching while enjoying a cigarette were keeping the mayhem down to a dull roar.

  I got too engrossed in the activities and missed the light change. Several helpful drivers honked their horns to remind me.

  All that activity at school was mind blowing when viewed all at once. Imagine those kids in the class room if they couldn’t work off all that energy.

  They would have to put them on drugs.

  At the studio Mr. James and two other writers were waiting for me. Tom got right down to business.

  “Marty tell Rick about what you guys have pulled together as a first cut.”

  “From the notes taken the other day we have a rough outline of what we would like to do.”

  “The story will be about rescuing a young boy, Oliver Spencer, kidnapped by Indians. It will center on his father’s efforts to find him and bring him back. Oliver will have been kidnapped by the Shawnee.”

  “His father reaches out to Simon Kenton for help. In turn Kenton approaches Simon Girty.”